


who knows how to love you without being told?

by angelica_barnes



Series: ABC [19]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Asexual Jughead Jones, Fluff and Angst, Love, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Secret Relationship, and these boys, i love fred a lot, i've never watched the show so i apologize if any of the characterization is inaccurate, jughead lives with the andrews, mentions of fp, mentions of grundy (bitch), not an actual soulmate au, read notes please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 23:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20016877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelica_barnes/pseuds/angelica_barnes
Summary: ten moments of intimacy; or,a day in the life of archie andrews and jughead jones.19. soulmate.





	who knows how to love you without being told?

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from "Soulmate" by Natasha Bedingfield
> 
> based off:  
> Untouchable - Taylor Swift (i listened to this on repeat for the three hours ish it took to write this)  
> You Are The Reason - Calum Scott  
> I Get To Love You - Ruelle (song archie ‘wrote’)  
> Ours - Taylor Swift (song archie sings)
> 
> enjoy!!! :)
> 
> btw iris means hope and daffodils mean new beginnings, rebirth (KEEP THAT IN MIND IT'S IMPORTANT)

**untouchable,**

**burning brighter than the sun,**

**and when you’re close**

**I feel like coming undone.**

**\- Taylor Swift (Untouchable)**

**1.** _ stretch my arms, wrap them around you _

archie usually wakes up with his face buried in jughead’s chest. they fall asleep with only their hands intertwined every night, but somehow always wake up like this. archie wonders what they look like at night when they move, if they turn towards each other naturally, as if there’s a cosmic pull between their bodies.

regardless of the answer, it’ll probably end up in one of archie’s songs later. jughead knows this, and refuses to listen to archie sing unless he knows that archie can’t see him. he says it’s because writing love songs for your super secret boyfriend is cliche and stupid, but archie’s pretty sure it’s because jughead hates crying in front of people. and he  _ always _ cries whenever archie writes another song for him, because he’s not used to people doing things for him.

at least, not because they want to, not out of love. so this thing with archie can be overwhelming, or at least that’s what archie tells himself, because jughead hasn’t really ever said that he loves archie back out loud.

instead he shows it when he brushes their fingers together in the hallway and hides his laptop screen with a sorry smile, because archie needs to wait to find the printed letters on his nightstand a few days later.

_ i’m sorry i left you,  _ archie always wants to say, but he knows jughead would just shrug and drop a kiss to archie’s hair as if to say,  _ i forgive you _ .

like now, as he blinks blearily and wakes up to archie’s wide brown eyes staring into his, and he cups archie’s face in his hands almost subconciously, leaning down as archie stretches up and they meet in the middle, a soft kiss in the midst of soft sun under soft blankets.

**2.** _i know you can’t hold my hand and i forgive you with my shaking fingers_

jughead doesn’t get pushed around by reggie much anymore. sometimes he wonders if that has anything to do with archie, or if reggie has just somehow been brainwashed by well-meaning aliens, or if maybe, just maybe, there’s goodness somewhere in reggie that’s won over.

in class, there’s a comforting foot on the back of his chair, pressing lightly against his back as archie scribbles notes down in jughead’s notebook. reggie watches from across the room, marveling at how archie can touch jughead so easily and not be flinched away from and snapped at, probably.

jughead doesn’t move his head as he meets reggie’s gaze, strong and challenging, tapping out a rhythm against his leg.

_ tap, tap tap. tap, tap tap. tap, tappity tap tap. _

reggie slowly jerks his head in a subtle nod towards archie’s foot on jughead’s back, and jughead shrugs, the gesture barely noticeable. under the table, he lifts his pointer finger, and raises an eyebrow.

reggie shakes his head, looking down, and taps jughead’s shoulder lightly as he passes by him on the way out of class. in the doorway, archie catches jughead’s hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing the back of it without taking his eyes off his silent boyfriend.

“problem?” he whispers, a warm breath against jughead’s skin, and jughead curls his fingers around archie’s loosely, accepting the touch.

a murmur, leaning close to archie’s ear and keeping his eyes trained on the ground, “he won’t tell.”

**3.** _ yours are the only eyes i see, burning into mine _

to any stranger the touches are accidents, meaningless brushes of shoulder, leather against lettermen, but archie knows better. his pinkie curls itself through one of jughead’s belt hoops, keeping him close.

they don’t really talk, jughead too enraptured by whatever world he’s travelled off to, and archie is captivated by jughead’s stilted smile, an uncertainly happy expression painted across his face.

as they near the corner leading to where the drive in used to be, archie tears his eyes from jughead, scanning for any friends that might find their way here, to the ruins of this paradise that jughead and he had built so long ago. back before summer and fuckbuddies and murder.

“i don’t regret it.”

jughead’s voice breaks the silence, cold and hard as if he’s blocking some part of himself off. archie turns his head towards him, pulling his pinkie from jughead’s belt loop and letting his arm hang by his side.

“i’m glad they took it down. it’s better that way.”

archie cocks his head, slowing their pace as jughead keeps his eyes firmly on the sidewalk ahead. “why?”

jughead shrugs, like it’s no big deal, but his fingers playing with the hem of archie’s shirt say it is. “dunno. there are flowers there now.”

archie looks over at the bare ground, littered with junk and paint peels plastered to old wood. he nods, once, turning back to jughead and tinkering with the hem of his shirt, fingers brushing over jughead’s delicately.

“you make a pretty daffodil, juggie.”

jughead huffs, but a smile creeps on his face anyway.

“iris, if anything, or maybe that’s you.”

**4.** _ look away from you as you undress, beautiful skin i’m lucky touches mine _

jughead feels dirty all over, itchy and uncomfortable in his serpents jacket, almost too close to their messy hurricane. he closes his eyes, shrugging it off and telling himself that he’s in the eye, he’s in the eye, he’s in the eye.

“shower, jug?” archie asks, voice gentle and teasing, the perfect blend of infurating and exactly what jughead needs to hear. he nods, turning to drop his head against archie’s chest, arms hanging limply by his sides.

“want me to come with,” archie whispers into jughead’s beanie, “maybe wait for you?”

jughead closes his eyes and nods, slowly, pressing a kiss to archie’s chest before pulling away, walking towards the bathroom without ever meeting archie’s eyes.

he pulls his shirt off over his head, then his jeans down his legs, stepping into the shower blissfully free of confining cotton and denim. he takes his beanie off and drops it carelessly on the floor before turning on the water, shutting his eyes again as the cold water turns to warm droplets that run down his face like tears.

archie shuffles in, closing the door softly behind him and settling on the toilet. jughead watches his shadow curiously through the curtain with half-lidded eyes.

“any requests, juggie?” comes archie’s hushed voice, and jughead shakes his head.

“whatever you’re feeling, i guess.”

archie nods and jughead rubs his hands down his arms, crouching down on the floor of the tub and relishing in the feeling of the water pelting his back like constant hail.

archie’s voice starts off hesitant, then gets stronger with each word, the song an old one from one of fred’s scratched records, jughead thinks.

“your hands are tough but they are where mine belong,” archie sings quietly, and jughead stands slowly on shaky legs, turning off the water. archie keeps going but those words are all jughead can hear, bouncing around in his head like an echo, and he pulls the curtain aside, not bothering to reach for a towel.

instead he reaches for archie’s hand, shivering in the cold, and archie looks up at him, eyes raking over jughead’s body before settling on his mouth, lips slightly parted around fogging breath.

archie takes his hand and pushes himself up off the top of the toilet seat, coming close enough to brush his fingers across jughead’s cheek.

“i picked up your beanie,” he whispers, fingers now playing with a curl in jughead’s soaking wet hair, and jughead nods, accepting the kiss archie presses to his lips.

“c’mon,” archie mumbles, pulling away to grab a towel to wrap around jughead’s shoulders, “wanna watch a movie?”

**5.** _ my kisses sparkle on your skin like dust in sunlight and i love you, i love you, i love you _

archie’s math homework sits abandoned on the bed and he kicks it off with his feet as he leans back against the pillows, jughead settling uncertainly beside him. archie waits for jughead to open the laptop, knowing better than to touch it himself, and is content to let jughead pick the movie, dropping his head back and closing his eyes, taking a deep breath.

“which one do you wanna watch?” jughead asks, voice barely higher than a rumble, and archie doesn’t move.

“you pick.”

he waits for the sound of opening credits, the clicking of jughead’s finger on the touchpad and the tapping of his nails on the keys. instead jughead’s voice breaks the heavy blanket of silence, muffled against archie’s shoulder as he kisses it.

“please.”

archie doesn’t open his eyes but turns his head towards jughead, smiling when he feels jughead’s hair tickling his nose. “casablanca?” he suggests jokingly, and his smile widens when jughead lets loose a soft chuckle. “no, maybe the winter soldier?”

jughead pulls away to find the movie in his endless drive and archie finally opens his eyes, shuffling to push closer to jughead, laying his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“why captain america?” jughead asks, and archie smiles, telling the truth like it’s a joke.

“guess i’m feeling romantic today,” he says, and jughead laughs, eyes crinkling in the corners.

**6.** _ your heart beats slowly beneath your ribs as if you’re asleep even when your eyes are open and sometimes i press my hand against it when you sleep, just to feel your heartbeat kiss my palm _

jughead wakes up when fred gets home, the movie screen black and laptop close to dead, with archie drooling on his shoulder. he closes the laptop and plugs it in, turning his body to wrap archie in his arms, and archie snuffles in his sleep as jughead kisses his head.

“it ain’t pop’s but it’s somethin’,” jughead murmurs, and archie curls his fingers around the front of jughead’s shirt, mumbling protests against his boyfriend’s chest. “c’mon, aren’t you hungry?”

archie doesn’t answer, sitting up and being careful not to touch any part of jughead’s body. jughead watches him as he pulls on a pair of soft plaid pj pants and starts shuffling towards the door.

“her again?” jughead asks, voice catching on the bile rising in his throat, and archie stops, not turning around.

slowly he nods, back tense and fingers clenched into fists by his sides, and jughead stands and walks over to him, careful not to be too loud.

“you need me to ask fred if we can eat up here?” he says real soft, touching a hand to archie’s back when the redhead jerks nervously. “i can do that, y’know. if you need it. he’ll... we’ll understand.”

archie is silent for a minute, shaking his head and muttering something under his breath,  _ not your fault, not your fault, not your fault _ .

jughead doesn’t move, waiting for an answer, and archie nods choppily after a minute or so. “want dad.”

jughead pulls back, fingers curling around his arms so they have something else to hold, so they don’t shake with all of jughead’s pent-up rage towards the woman who never really got what she deserved.

“okay. i’ll get him.”

archie suddenly jolts, grasping at jughead’s fingers, his eyes wide and wild. “juggie.”

jughead stares into his boyfriend’s eyes, searching them for the fondness he’s so used to seeing. “what?”

archie swallows, thickly, and wraps a shaking hand fully around jughead’s.

“want. want dad, too.”

oh.

jughead nods and offers a guilty smile, pressing closer when archie breathes out and closes his eyes, touching his forehead to jughead’s.

“let’s go… let’s go get him then. together.”

**7.** _ you always look so focused when you’re not looking at me and i wonder if i exist in the worlds you create, somewhere in those dreams you don’t like to talk about _

archie scribbles a heart on the corner of his music sheets, then blushes red, ripping it off. he’s not some lovesick girl.

jughead laughs softly from his place on the bed, and archie chances a look up, where jughead is watching him and smiling, music blasting rudely from his headphones and knuckles tinted blue from the screen.

“you’re such an idiot,” he says, and archie blushes again, this time a slight pink. the laugh settles into a smirk on jughead’s face, sweet and playful, “just give me your damn heart.”

in a normal world archie would say something cheesy about jughead already having that, about having it since day one, but he shoves that thought back and hands it over, shivering when their fingers brush.

“it’s cute,” jughead murmurs, smirk melting into something soft, and archie looks down with his lips quirked upwards at the corners, scrawling a few letters onto the white.

_ one look at you, my whole life falls in line _ plays out on the paper, and then more lines follow, pouring out of archie like rain from a cloud, and the  _ tap _ ,  _ tap _ ,  _ tap _ of jughead’s fingers on his keyboard inspire a simple melody that comes to life with archie’s fingers pulling at his guitar strings.

**8.** _ dimples on your back, framing your smile of a spine, and i trace them with my fingers when i think you’re sleeping, lost to dreams about me, i hope _

jughead calls jellybean right around the time he starts to yawn, feeling his heart rising from his chest to his throat with the excess carbon dioxide.

“please answer,” he mumbles, biting on a hangnail. “c’mon, c’mon, pick up.”

archie looks up at him, head resting on jughead’s stomach, arms around his middle, lying on top of his boyfriend who plays with the red strands of archie’s hair as he waits, afraid of the leave a message lady.

“she misses you too,” archie whispers after three rings. “she loves you too.” but jughead can’t be convinced without the same words in his sister’s voice.

“it’s late, juggie,” jellybean sounds from the speaker, choppy and muffled. “i almost thought you forgot.”

jughead chokes out a laugh, sagging forward as archie’s lips widen into a grin. “nah. not you, jelly, but arch here forgot to remind me.”

archie offers a playful glare, biting jughead’s wrist harmlessly. jughead smiles, pressing a kiss to archie’s hair as jellybean lets out a long, drawn out sigh.

“i’m disappointed, archiekins,” she chastises. “i’d expect this from juggie, but you, andrews? i’m hurt, arch, not gonna lie.”

archie laughs and jughead shakes his head in exasperation, a curl escaping from under his beanie and falling in front of his face.

“call you later, jelly, me and ‘archiekins’ have gotta go.” archie hides another giggle in jughead’ stomach, eyes gleeful like upside down smiles. jughead grins fondly at him, then turns his eyes towards the ceiling.

“i love you, bean. tomorrow?”

jellybean seems to nod, a rustle sounding through the phone, and archie can hear the smile in her voice when she answers.

“love you too, big bro. tomorrow.”

the call ends and archie leans his head into jughead’s partially exposed palm, smiling when jughead does, his boyfriend brushing his thumb around the arc of archie’s ear.

**9.** _ i like it when you hold me like you don’t know what it means and i’m yours, i’m yours, you’re mine and i can’t believe you found me _

fred comes up to say goodnight, and jughead pulls away from archie and crawls towards the mattress on the floor when he hears footsteps, offering archie a weak smile from across the room, eyes glistening behind half-hooded lids.

the door opens and archie scrambles to get under the covers, pulling them around him like a hoop skirt of cushy armour, and jughead lets out a soft laugh at the sight.

fred smiles at the two, hand caught on the doorknob. he heads towards archie after a second, brushing his son’s ruby locks from his forehead and kissing him on his sweaty, exposed skin. “goodnight.”

archie closes his eyes, mouth quivering with the fight to not smile or cry jughead guesses, and murmurs, “g’night, dad.”

fred pulls away as archie opens his eyes, both of them turning towards jughead, who grins, trying to stave off whatever pitying love fred’s about to give him, but archie’s dad just smiles and leans down to kiss jughead’s forehead too.

as he heads for the door, his smile softens into that amused one where you can see the wrinkles that prove he used to laugh. “you can stop hiding from me, y’know.”

they blink innocently, trying to seem clueless, but archie’s grin and jughead’s trembling hands give them away, their bodies unconciously bent towards each other. fred’s smile widens, then softens again, eyes twinkling with something like sadness and affection.

“i don’t mind,” he says softly. “never did.”

archie nods sagely, understanding, and jughead stares, unnervingly still. fred’s eyes flick towards him.

“neither would fp, but i don’t think you need me to tell you that.”

he waits until jughead jerks his head in some sort of nod, and as the door closes, jughead struggles to find his voice surrounded by the dim of archie’s nightlights.

“thank you,” he whispers, not sure to whom, and archie opens his arms for jughead to fall into, burying his face in his boyfriend’s neck and accepting the kiss pressed to his collarbone.

**10.** _ when the sun rises and i’m facing the dark, i’m always glad it’s with you, your hand tangled in mine like two strings that can never be cut or unknotted _

jughead drops his head onto the pillow, his fist shoved under his face and elbow bent. archie stares back in the same position, their second hands brushing on the small space of mattress between them.

they both move at the same time, fingers threading together, and neither smiles, not sure why or how.

“i’d like to hear your song,” jughead finally whispers, low and nearly silent in places. archie’s eyes widen slightly in surprise, and jughead blushes. “yeah, um. if that’s okay.”

archie squeezes jughead’s fingers and watches as jughead closes his eyes. “yeah, yeah. ‘course, it’s for you.”

jughead doesn’t move, not even to smile, so archie closes his eyes too after a minute, breathing in the musty air.

then jughead’s voice, soft in the darkness, “hope you know.”

and archie doesn’t ask what, already knowing the answer, “yeah. i love you too.”

  
  


**may your heart remain breakable,**

**but never by the same person**

**twice.**

**\- Taylor Swift**

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed :) thank you for reading!!!


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